Paul Fallon

Paul Fallon's handball achievements are quite extraordinary. He played in an era of great rivalries and will talk of George and Vic, Geoff and Lou, and a dozen opponents, with a smile on his face and sense of deep gratitude that he had a chance to play against them. He played with a code of honour that made him an outstanding leader. He hit that ball on the full and the intention was always to butt. He didn't trust that his opponents would keep the rally going. And away from the courts Paul Fallon never really looked like a handballer. He had this detached mild mannered appearance and shuffled in that faded green tracksuit. But when he took the top off there was a metamorphosis just like what happens with superheroes. He was muscular, focused, grave, with a gnarly determination. He played to win, retrieved desperately and made the impossible retrieve a winning shot. He concentrated on fitness obsessively and practiced like mad. Paul was a great of the game and maybe the greatest. He made the game a superb spectacle.

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Back in 1952, a month before Easter, at the Handball Court at the Marist Brothers College, Randwick, the State Final Singles match between George Macris and myself was about to start. We had met a month before in an inter-club match - resulting in a victory to the master George, about 21-12. He had been unbeaten in NSW since before the War, and was a pleasure to watch, but not necessarily to play Singles against. George was a perfect sportsman both on and off the court, and knew of no other way to play but to play absolutely fairly, although giving nothing away. My plan in 1952 was to play 'flat out" in the first game, and then to see what happens after that. The ball I liked was selected on the umpire's opine. My plan was to endeavour to make George hit as much as possible with his right, then I would go for a butt from his return - simple to write, but not always easy to execute. 

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Results...

1st Game: 15/14 to me.

2nd Game: 15/0 to George.

3rd Game: 15/14 to me.

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I realised any effort I put into the second game was a waste of precious energy, and either of us could have won the third game. I was very lucky to win, but while I was over the moon, George was the perfect sportsman in defeat - and went on to support me at the following Easter Carnival. Fair Play was expected of everyone, and always carried out - even though the intimacy of contests was a constant presence which always produced an appreciation of both partners and opponents.

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My most sincere thank you' to all the many Handballers over the years who have spent hours in organising competitions and carnivals for the benefit of fellow handball-lovers, and of course, for the common suggestion Let's butt to make up a four!'

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Yours sincerely, Paul (Fallon).